Environmental Justice—Climate Tzedek
Standing on the lawn at Wise, overlooking the San Fernando Valley, there are good days when the air sparkles and snow can be seen on Mount Baldy, and not-so-good days when a brown haze hangs over the homes of the millions who live and work there. There are far more brown days than clear days.
In our state, tremendous progress has been made to clean the air. Though I wasn’t living here in the 1960s, people talk about smog that burned their eyes and lungs. It’s hard to imagine that today. The environmental policies opposed by many for the costs they’d force on consumers and manufacturers are clearly a blessing for us today. As more and more vehicles switch to electric power (even with its known drawbacks) our children will certainly be able to breathe more easily.
That’s the good news—we’re making some progress. However, more alarming news about our climate is revealed to us every day. I need not recount the increasing evidence and effects of chemicals in our food, plastics in our water, and CO2 causing climate change here.
The call to justice in Deuteronomy (16:20) that I mentioned yesterday applies to our environment as well. Wise is part of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism Climate Tzedek Initiative. The impact of a deteriorating climate affects the poor far more harshly than the wealthy, so we are working hard to secure climate initiatives that will benefit us all. In addition, the brunt of the repercussions of anthropogenic climate change (climate change caused by human activity) is borne disproportionately by the vulnerable, poor, and disadvantaged. On a state level, dirty industries and oil production are most often located next to poor neighborhoods.
The pursuit of justice is not merely expressed in a fair and equitable court system as referenced in Deuteronomy; it extends to all the vast inequities that exist in so many areas in our world. If you would like to join in our climate justice projects, please reach out to me at [email protected].
—Rabbi Ron Stern
